The Way You Smile Shines the Heavens
by hikomokushi
Summary: Funnily enough, they weren’t too upset to find some reason to abandon their traditions. KakaSaku. AU. For 50scenes community on LiveJournal.
1. Part One

**Title:** The Way You Smile Shines the Heavens  
**Fandom/Community:** Naruto / **50scenes  
Prompt:** Table 2: #44 — Christmas  
**Pairing:** Hatake Kakashi x Haruno Sakura  
**Rating:** R  
**Warning:** Language, sexuality, alcohol and brief drug use  
**Disclaimer:** Kishimoto-sensei owns. Small quote dedication to the movies _Cruel Intentions_ and _Hercules_.  
**Summary:** He'd planned on spending his holiday as his normally did—with a nice bottle of Jack to wash down the bitterness. She'd planned on dealing with her dysfunctional parents as she always had—excusing herself to her room and turning her CD player up to max volume. Funnily enough, they weren't too upset to find some reason to abandon their traditions. AU.

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**Part One.**

"_I have given up everything for you! You don't understand how much I've given up, and I cannot understand why—!"_

"—_so_ sick_ of hearing you blabber on about all that you've given up! I don't really care how much you've given up!"_

Three levels up, inside the room at the far end of the hall on the right, a young woman groaned. Rolling onto her back, she closed her eyes and pulled a pillow onto her face, then put her arms at her side. The yelling faded a little bit, but increased in volume a few minutes later as the two adults relocated to a different room of the house.

"_Mou_, Sakura-chan!" The voice was staticy, but clear enough for the young woman to understand. "They arguing _again_? Don't they _ever_ shut up?"

Sakura slowly raised her hand and pulled the pillow from her face. She glanced calmly over towards her computer, where a large square had appeared on the screen—a picture of a small, college dorm apartment. "Obviously not, Ino-chan." She sighed, propping herself up on her elbows on the bed. She shook her head oddly, trying to get her short, pink bangs to move out of her line of vision. "Hey, Ino, where are you? I don't see you on the screen. . ."

Big blue eyes hazily filled Sakura's computer screen, and she chuckled. "This better?" Ino asking, giggling.

For once, the pink-haired woman laughed and fell back on the bed. Ino retreated to her own bed, settling down on the corner with her large fleece blanket wrapped around her shoulders. "But seriously, Sakura. . . your parents are always arguing. I know you finished schooling here, but you're rich enough. You should come back, bullshit for a year or so just to get away from them, before you go on to graduate school."

"I dunno, Ino." Sakura shrugged and glanced at her door.

The yelling was getting louder.

Sliding from the bed, she walked swiftly to the door, closing and locking it before she returned to her comfortable queen bed. "Sometimes I can't bear to leave them." She sighed, fiddling with a fuzzy stuffed animal—a well-worn bear that she'd had since she was a child. "Okaa-san does the whole 'guilt-trip' thing. And Otou-san just gets mad and yells. When he makes her cry, I feel bad; but then she'll do something equally cruel, like flirt with one of his business partners right in front of him."

Ino shook her head, bangs flinging from side to side. "They're children. Worse than that. They're _snobby_ children. The kind we looked at when we were younger and said we'd never end up being like."

"They make me so mad sometimes."

The teddy bear was then launched across the room angrily. It hit the wall squarely, but not before it knocked a picture of their family portrait from the table below. Sakura completely ignored it. They weren't a family, in her mind.

"You know," said Ino slyly, "you can always just come visit me. I live in here alone, so it's not like anyone would care. And I'm not actually living on campus, so it'd be allowed."

"Yea, you think Sasuke-kun would mind not being able have private time with you?" she changed the subject, not liking the way the conversation was going. "How are you and that boyfriend of yours?"

Ino gave her a look.

Sakura stared. "Don't tell me that you and him broke up! You were perfect for each other! I mean. . . even if he _was_ a bit of a conceited jerk. . ."

"He cheated on me." Ino's eyes closed, and for a moment Sakura thought her best friend might cry. But when the blonde opened her eyes again, they were filled with anger—not tears. "And with some. . . _whore_."

"Who?"

"Some bitch named Tayuya. I'd seen her, but never met her before. Apparently, she's friends with that group he started hanging around with." Ino rolled her eyes and pulled her hair out of its tie; she dragged her hands through it in slow, tired motions. "You probably saw her before, just never knew her. Long, red-hair; likes to wear a lot of dark make up."

The pink-haired woman sighed. "No, not specifically." Sakura shrugged. "I always could just—"

She was interrupted by the sudden shrill ringing of her phone. "Hey, Ino-chan, hold up a minute, will ya?" She turned sharply and picked up the phone. "_Moshimoshi?_" She paused and then smiled broadly. "Oh! Oba-han! How are you?" From the computer, Ino leaned back on her bed, impatiently tapping her foot to some tune in her head.

Sakura ignored her.

"No, they're still fighting. I'm pretty sure they're going to end up going through with it. At least, I know for sure it'll happen once Otou-san finds out about Rizu-san." The pink-haired girl shook her head slowly, biting at her fingernail. "This should be a fun holiday."

Then the young woman paused.

She glanced over her shoulder at the computer—at Ino—and a small smirk developed over her face. "Are you sure that'd be okay?"

Her smile widened. "Well, thanks Oba-han, I'll be sure to ask. I mean, if they say no, I'll just sneak out; but I'd rather get their permission so they don't decide to press kidnapping charges or something. Not that it would work—you being a lawyer and all. I'll call you later and give you my answer. Yes. . . yes, I love you too,_ sayonara_."

"So?"

Sakura glanced over her shoulder as the put the phone back on its charger. "I was wondering. . . Ino-chan. . ." she started, hands behind her back as she spun around to prance slowly towards the computer screen. The blonde looked alarmed. "Do you specifically have anything planned this Christmas holiday?"

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"The Harada case?" Hatake Kakashi spread the manila folders out before him, before lazily picking one up and passed it across the table to his partner Genma. "Here." He barely noticed when something in the other room loudly slammed against the wall dividing the rooms.

"Ah, thank you," the brown-haired man murmured as he glanced towards the door to the room, chuckling. "Something is _obviously_ going on in there. I just wonder who's getting the brunt of the injuries. Now, you wanted the Nakanishi case?"

"Probably Jiraiya-san. Ah, yes, thank you." Kurenai shook her black hair out of her face, taking the folder from Genma as he handed it to her. She flinched when there was a loud thud against the wall, and glanced over her shoulder. "I hope she doesn't kill him."

"Why?" The strong smell of smoke followed the dark-haired man as he walked into the room, setting the two large boxes he was carrying on the other side of the table. "You owe me for pizza, Shiranui."

Genma pulled his wallet out of his pocket, flicked it open and then tossed a twenty dollar bill onto the table. "Happy Asuma?" he asked sarcastically. He grabbed one of the boxes and flipped it open, tugging a large piece of pizza out.

"Indubitably."

Kakashi lounged backwards in his seat, balancing on the back two legs of his chair, silver hair falling over his face as he bit on the end of a pen.

"Well, don't you look distracted?" Asuma pulled a cigarette from the pack in his breast pocket and used his fingernail to light the match. "What's up with him?" he asked Kurenai, blowing the smoke away from them before leaning down to give her a light peck on the check and lay his hand on her thigh.

She slid his hand away discreetly, crimson eyes focused on the file before her.

"Probably worried that Tsunade-san is killing Jiraiya-san and destroying the future of the _Icha Icha_ series." Genma grinned, picking a pepperoni off his pizza and popping it into his mouth. "Then he'd have _no_ life other than work."

"Ya'know. . ." The silver-haired man turned his head sharply, spiked hair falling into his face. He paused, then stuck out his lower lip and blew a stream of air up at the fringe to push it out of his eyes. After a second of trying, he shook his head instead, then resumed his glare. "I wonder why you people are my friends. I really do hate you all."

"We know, Kakashi." Kurenai absently patted his arm as she turned to talk to Asuma. "We know."

The man crossed his arms and grumbled; something that sounded vaguely like _"you all suck"_.

Genma sighed, switching his toothpick to the other side of his mouth with his tongue. "Okay," he said, glancing mutely around the table. "It's four days 'til Christmas, and I need to get one more case in or Tsunade-san's going to fillet me for her dinner. I plan on having much sex over Christmas. Work your magic men" — Kurenai scowled — "and lady. Find me the easiest job in this pile!"

The dark-haired woman glanced at the pile before she held up a folder. "Fujishima case—divorce dispute."

"Stupid man." No once was surprised when Kakashi snorted and shook his head slightly. "Should have made her sign a pre-nup."

"You know the case?"

Kakashi rolled his dark eyes. "Wrote the file." He latched his mouth on to the back end of the pen again. "Four hours of listening to the two of them grumble."

Genma grinned. "What's the little woman like?"

"You _really_ expect me to—!"

"Yes!"

Kakashi signed and rubbed his temple. "About 5'7", black hair, big boobs, nasty face."

"Lights off, then, I'm thinking."

Kurenai glanced at them, an expression of extreme disgust on her face. "You are all sick. Sick, little horny bastards."

"Hey, how did I get roped into being sick? I'm not the one planning to take advantage of the woman-on-the-rebound."

"You noticed she had big boobs."

Kakashi's eyes rolled again. "Kurenai, any guy would have noticed, even your little pet Sarutobi here. She was practically shoving them in front of my face." He made an unpleasant face and then turned to glance at Genma, who'd bitten into his pizza; watching their argument with amusement. "Oh yea, she's kind of desperate."

Genma opened his mouth eagerly to respond, but the door to their conference room was thrown open.

Bold as brass and twice as tough, Tsunade let herself into the room quietly; heels clicking against the wooden floor.

Her amber eyes stalked each one of her employees. Genma froze, pizza half-risen to his mouth. He gulped, and then put it back down in the box in front of him. Kurenai blinked and then glanced at Asuma, who slowly slid his arm to his side—from where it had wrapped around her shoulders. Kakashi merely glanced up through his haze of silver fringe, his teeth clicking lightly against the pen.

"Kakashi," said Tsunade lightly. "I'd like to see you in my office. Right now."

"Well, we're a bit busy, you see. . ." Kakashi started, pulling the pen away from his mouth as he held out his arm casually.

Her eyes flashed, and she interrupted him; "Enough! I said _now_."

The man's eyes closed as the front legs of his chair dropped back to the ground. "Fine." He opened his eyes again, glancing at his fellow workers. He offered a mock-cheery smile and saluted with two fingers. "Be right back."

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Kakashi pushed his feet against the floor and lifted the front end of the chair off the ground. He held the pen horizontally in his teeth, glaring through his hair at his boss. "Tsunade-san," he said finally to the quiet woman, taking the pen from his mouth and putting it in his breast pocket, "is this really all necessary? If all you wanted to do was talk, you didn't need to make Genma want to piss his pants to get me to walk in here."

The underside of her chin resting on her knuckles as she leaned into her desk, Tsunade blew a stray strand of blonde hair out of her eyes before winking. "C'mon, Kakashi. Where's the fun in that? I like frightening Shiranui. Besides, it's not like you were _actually working_."

"I was helping Genma find an easy way to end the Fujishima case." Kakashi's smirked lazily. "At least, that's what I would say if anybody asked."

"He's going to try and fuck her, isn't it?"

He faked a wince. "Must you be so crude? I thought women were supposed to be the better behaved of the sexes."

"Lies," breathed Tsunade, snickering and popping a peppermint into her mouth. "All of them. Bald-faced. You should do well to not listen to the grapevine, Hatake Kakashi. Women are no better than men. We just make it look prettier."

"Well, I don't think you invited me in here to discuss Genma's sleeping habits. Though it would be very nice if you could just offer me some coffee, or even a peppermint." He winked and clicked the pen against her desk lightly. "It's only fair. And then we can talk about whatever is on your mind." He tilted his head catlike to the side and glanced sidelong at the wall. "Or we can talk about what you did to Jiraiya-san that caused that dent."

Tsunade was too old to be insulted by how playful her employee's tone was and too open to be embarrassed about his comments. "That dent has a story, and you're not getting it out of me unless I'm pissed off my ass." She was pretty sure she didn't even know how to blush.

She tossed him a peppermint, however. "I'm being nice. And you didn't even offer me any pizza."

"You know how Genma is about his pizza."

"Yes, almost as predatory as he is about his women." Tsunade closed her eyes and sighed through her nose before she shook her head. Her eyes glittered, and Kakashi didn't like it. "And the reason I called you in here to talk? That might take a while."

Kakashi glanced at his bare wrist before grinning broadly as his eyes returned to her face. "Look at that. Hours to spare."

"You are the most annoying man I have ever met."

"And you're in love with Jiraiya." He shrugged his shoulders and lounged again, bouncing slightly on the back legs of the chair. "Tell me something I don't know." He crossed his arms over his chest and raised a pale eyebrow. "But really. Let's get this over with. I only have to finish writing up my case file and send it over to archives."

The woman leaned forward slightly and placed her chin on her folded hands, merely looking at him. "I invited my niece, Sakura, and her friend Ino, to come up for Christmas, as Sakura's parents are a little busy at the moment. Not that they should take time out of their daily schedules to notice their _daughter_. . ." she added sarcastically under her breath.

"Wait a second," interrupted Kakashi. He paused. "You have a sister?"

Tsunade made a face at him and rolled her eyes. "I have a twin. We are absolutely nothing alike; in looks, mind, and spirit. From the very beginning, even in the cradle, my mother said, we had an incredibly strong sibling rivalry. It only intensified as we grew. Yuuka was as much everything my father wanted in a child as I was everything my mother wanted. We have never gotten along, but I am incredibly fond of her daughter."

"Unfortunately, Jiraiya has just informed me that the two of us are going to be in meetings for the next few weeks, as Hyuuga Hiashi is stepping down as partner and wishes that his nephew, Neji take over."

Tsunade popped another peppermint into her mouth and sucked hard on it. Her eyes narrowed irritatedly. "Normally this wouldn't be much of a big deal, but it hasn't been long since Naruto made partner as well. With two recently-made partners, the Sponsors feel as though we should burden ourselves over Christmas with meetings. Not that we really have anything to discuss. Naruto has been doing a wonderful job, and everybody who works here knows that Neji has had far more involvement in his uncle's decisions than even _he'd_ be willing to admit."

Kakashi scowled. "I don't like the way this sounds already. Where do I get involved?"

"I need to keep Sakura and Ino busy."

"I'm not a babysitter, Tsunade-san," sighed Kakashi, twirling his pen between his fingers. "I've never liked kids; I don't plan on starting now."

The blonde woman shook her head with a smirk. "The two of them have always been very independent, as well as mature," she chuckled. "Hardly children. I'm upset that I won't get to spend as much time with Sakura as I'm supposed to. There's normally a lot of leeway time between meetings, but I'll be required to remain within the building should someone need to call on me."

She sighed.

"I'm not above bribery." Tsunade's amber eyes narrowed and once again, Kakashi did not like the way they glittered in the office's low light. "I will give you, Shiranui, Kurenai and Sarutobi Christmas bonuses if you come in on Christmas Eve and have a Christmas party."

The man leaned forward in his seat, elbows on his knees and his hands clasped calmly in front of his face. Mismatched eyes glanced over his pale fingertips, customary smirk donning his features. "You're telling me you're going to give us bonuses for staying in work to party?"

"An in-office Christmas party."

"You're serious."

Tsunade raised a shapely eyebrow as the corner of her mouth lifted slightly. "Dead."

"Consider it done."

"You'll convince the other three?"

Kakashi nodded and sat back in the chair. "Asuma and Kurenai will be easy. As long as both of them are here, they'll be distracted enough to have fun. All I have to do for Genma is assure him that he can get drunk and flirt with two pretty girls, and he'll practically jump into my lap like he was my dog."

Tsunade shook her head. "If he touches one hair on Sakura's head. . ." she threatened.

"Don't worry, he just likes to flirt. He wouldn't risk his job on Sakura. Maybe her friend. . . if she's attractive enough. He wouldn't try anything though."

"Shiranui needs a leash and muzzle." Tsunade shook her head, pulling her fingertips through the loose bangs that hang down in front of her eyes. She stared cross-eyed at the strands for a few moments before sighing and glancing back at him. "If you can pull this off, and keep Sakura's Christmas from being ruined by my forced meetings, than I indeed _will_ give you bonuses. But I'm trusting you now."

Kakashi hummed. "Scary thought."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, yes, I get it," sighed Kakashi, holding up his hands. "I get it."

"You're excused." The blonde woman waved her hand lazily at the door behind them. "Go. Before I change my mind and fire you instead."

"With pleasure."

The man extracted himself from his chair and left the room, slamming the door shut behind him. Kakashi sighed and then slid his hands into his pockets slowly. "How irritating."

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TBC. . .

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Well, I had actually planned on getting this entire thing finished by Christmas. Funny, how those little plans never seem to work out.

I have half of Part Two written. I'm thinking only Three parts? Possibly Four, depending on how much muse I get. I also have Chapter V of _Picture Trends_ to be working on. As I had little time to work on this Christmas joy, I had almost no time to sit down and get serious about Chapter V. I've got what's happening within the chapter planned out, and a small segment written, but nothing more. I have school off until the 7th, though, so hopefully I should be able to flesh out a nice chapter for you. And get started—if not finish—Chapter VI.

I am going to be working my butt off.

I love it though. There's nothing I love more than sitting down and going "okay, I need to write about 5,000 words in the next 5 hours." I feel really good about myself on those days.

I love writing AU for KakaSaku too. It's nice to put them in other situations.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Holidays and anything else anybody could possibly be. xD

- Hiko Mokushi


	2. Part Two

**Title:** The Way You Smile Shines the Heavens  
**Fandom/Community:** Naruto / **50scenes  
Prompt:** Table 2: #44 — Christmas  
**Pairing:** Hatake Kakashi x Haruno Sakura  
**Rating:** R  
**Warning:** Language, sexuality, alcohol and brief drug use  
**Disclaimer:** Kishimoto-sensei owns. Small quote dedication to the movies _Cruel Intentions_ and _Hercules_.  
**Summary:** He'd planned on spending his holiday as his normally did—with a nice bottle of Jack to wash down the bitterness. She'd planned on dealing with her dysfunctional parents as she always had—excusing herself to her room and turning her CD player up to max volume. Funnily enough, they weren't too upset to find some reason to abandon their traditions. AU.

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**Part Two.**

"Are you sure this isn't a joke?"

Kakashi glanced at Genma and shrugged, hands shoved deep into his pockets; protected against the icy wind. "Tsunade-san gave me her word. We get a nice, big Christmas bonus if we organize this party. Keep things nice and pretty for Tsunade-san's little Sakura-chan and we're fine. It's not hard, keeping kids happy at Christmas. Buy a couple presents and give them some candy."

Asuma took a long drag on his cigarette, the end of it glowing red. "How do we know there are no tricks?" He blew smoke into the air away from them before tapping his fag lightly against with the tip of his finger. He watched the ash zoom by Kakashi's pant leg. "I wouldn't put it past Tsunade-san."

Kakashi shrugged. "Guess we have to actually trust our boss isn't trying to stab us in the back?"

The dark-haired man closed his eyes and put the cigarette out on the corner of the building. "I think we're screwed, guys."

"Where's Kurenai?" asked Genma, rubbing his hands together. He blew into the hollow his cupped hands made. "She normally gets here around this time."

Asuma shook his head. "She and Hinata-chan decided that they wanted a tree for the quad. A real one; not a fake, plastic one like the one in the storage room. They dragged Naruto along with them so that they wouldn't have to cut it down themselves."

"Lazy."

Genma blinked, raising an eyebrow. "Ain't that the pot calling the kettle black, Kakashi?"

The man shrugged. "So I'm a hypocrite. What else is new?"

"_Troublesome._"

The man turned and glanced over his shoulder. "Shikamaru? What's the matter?" he asked, crossing his arms. "I thought you were helping Tenten and Shizune decorate. . . ?"

The spiky-haired man's dark eyes widened. "They've gone _crazy_. When are these girls getting here anyway? The way Shizune's running around, it seems like they're coming soon."

Kakashi scratched his chin absently. "Should be sometime today?"

Genma nudged him with an elbow. "How about _now_?"

"Hm?"

Kakashi turned, catching sight of a large, black limousine passing them; it parked a few feet from where they were standing. A short, stumpy man with two chins and a stuck-up expression leapt out of the driver's side door and walked importantly around the car. He opened the back door slowly, snapping to attention as soon as the door was fully open. "Here you are, Haruno-san." Shikamaru walked slowly over to stand beside Asuma, his eyes narrowed harshly as two young women stepped out the back of the limo.

"Thank you, Un-chan."

Genma turned furiously to the silver-haired man, amber eyes wide. "You said they were _kids_!" His head turned back and he continued in a vehement whisper; "Those aren't _kids_!" Kakashi merely nodded brokenly.

Yamanaka Ino slung her purse onto her shoulder, glancing around boredly. "We won't need your services from now on, Un-chan," she said. Two manicured fingers pushed into the top of her shirt, and the young woman pulled a couple bills out with her fingers and held them out. The chauffeur stared for a moment, before glancing at the other young woman.

"Haruno-san, I—"

Brushing her short, pink bangs from in front of her viridian eyes, Haruno Sakura shook her head. "You're here on my father's orders, Un-chan. Not mine. I'm under my aunt's supervision now. I have no more use for you. I don't figure that I'll be needing to _drive_ anywhere."

The driver pouted.

"Oh, c'mon, Un-chan!" The girl returned his pout fully, clasping her hands in front of her. "Just leave me be, for once. Oba-han isn't going to have me murdered. My body won't be floating down the river tomorrow."

He _hmmphed_ lightly to himself, but the man bowed before showing himself the way back to his car. After starting the limo, the black vehicle drove away slowly. Sakura waved her hand at it while Ino giggled at her side. "I swear, that man is the most annoying creature I've ever had the misfortune of meeting."

Stuffing her un-retrieved tip back into her bra, Ino grabbed her friend's forearm and laughed out loud. "He's almost as bad as your _parents_."

Sakura mocked a shiver. "Now that's a scary thought." She glanced left and right, before sighing. "I have no idea where to go. And it's _freezing_. I can't remember what Oba-han said to look for to know the right building."

"What about those men over there? You should go ask." Ino discreetly pointed towards the men standing flabbergasted beside the corner of the building. "You can even borrow my tip money!" She jokingly started to reach back into her bra with her free hand.

Sakura smacked it away, and then smacked her pointed finger for good measure.

"Whaaat?" whined Ino, rubbing her finger.

"I can't ask random people if they know what building Hokage and Konoha is!" The pink-haired young woman dropped her forehead into the palm of her hand and sighed. "I'll sound like an idiot. And I've never been good talking with people—you know that. Remember what happened at last year's Halloween party?"

Ino_ actually_ shuddered. "Vividly. I've never seen such a train wreck." Crossing her arms dramatically, she sighed. "Fine, I won't make you ask." Her grin turned catlike. "But that doesn't mean _I_ won't ask." She turned on her heel.

Sakura's head snapped up. "Wait, Ino-chan, _no_!"

"Excuse me!"

The young woman's head dropped into her hand again. "I'm so dead."

Ino slowly walked towards the men, putting her on her best distressed face. "Excuse me," she repeated, when she noticed that she had finally gotten the men's attentions. Genma stared at her, completely oblivious to Asuma's looks of disgust. "Um, me and my friend are looking for the Hokage and Konoha building? The lawyer firm? I was wondering; if you knew, if you could point us in the right direction?"

"Would you be the niece or the friend?" Kakashi boredly turned, eyes half-hidden by his spiky hair.

The blonde stopped in her tracks and titled her head to the side. "Huh? Pardon?" Her expression changed from predatory to deer in the span of three seconds as she grew anxious.

The man rolled his mismatched eyes. "Would you be Tsunade-san's_ niece_ or the _friend_ coming along?"

Sakura stepped up beside her friend, biting on the inside of her cheek. "And how would you know my aunt?" she asked, ready to take Ino's hand and run if it came to it. She didn't know why someone besides her aunt would know that she was coming up for Christmas or that she was bringing a friend.

"Begging your pardon, Haruno-san," said Asume politely, nodding his head slightly. "We work for your aunt. She told us that you were coming up. If you'd like to walk with us, we could show you the way. We were just about to go inside."

"Thank you," Sakura said, somewhat taken back. "I apologize if I sounded rude."

Genma smirked. "Naw, it's fine. You weren't rude at all." He openly glanced at the bump her breasts made in her jacket before looking at her face. Sakura made a little disgruntled noise, crossing her arms over her chest protectively. His eyes turned to Ino instead.

She smiled suggestively.

He reached out, interlocking his arm with Ino's as he led her inside. Sakura watched as her friend walked by her, completely oblivious to the aversive look written on Sakura's face. The pink-haired woman closed her eyes, giving a silent sigh; her fists clenched slightly at her side. When she opened her eyes again, Kakashi was rolling his beside her.

"C'mon," he said gruffly, pointing towards the building his fellow workers had just entered. "Tsunade-san will be wondering where you're at."

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"Look at you." Tsunade took Sakura by the biceps and held her at arm's length before pulling her in for a hug. "You've grown up so much. It seems like it's been forever. Since when have you been almost my same height?" The blonde woman sighed and shook her head, releasing her niece with a smirk. "I need to help you escape that hellhole more often. I don't see you enough. I like the short hair though."

Sakura giggled and perched herself on the edge of her aunt's desk. "Really, you do," she agreed, brushing hair from in front of her eyes. "It's not fun sitting at home all the time. And I don't start at school until September."

Tsunade placed her hands on her hips. "Why don't you apply for an internship here? I know you're going into the medical field, and you've always hated the law practice; but it'd get you out the house. Plus, you could stay here."

"I never said I _hated_ law," the younger woman snickered, rolling her eyes, "I just said that I could never _do_ it. I don't know how you put yourself through school. All the Latin medical terms are enough to give me a headache, but at least they're understandable. Your law terms make absolutely no sense."

"To you."

Sakura grinned. "Yea, to me. Because I'm the stupid one here."

Dragging a hand through her hair again, the young woman sighed, before glancing at the window; hidden mostly by half-open blinds. "So you've got a nice place here," she said slowly, leaning forward. She placed her elbow on her knee, resting her chin in her open palm. "I don't recognize most of the people, but then again, I had figured that at least _some_ of your previous coworkers from Gamble and Wager would have followed you."

"_Tch_." Tsunade made a face and rolled her eyes. "These guys are better. They may _look_ like a motley group, but they're incredibly dedicated."

"How much did you have to pay them to do this party?"

The elder woman glanced away. "I don't know what you're talking about. The annual Christmas party is a tradition." She crossed her arms indignantly. "You are such a bad niece; thinking that I had to _bribe_ people into having a party. And _you_." She smirked. "Selfish. Like we'd hold a party just for you."

"You're a sad-ass liar, Oba-han." Sakura shook her head, but her green eyes were full of amusement. "It's okay. I mean, it's not like I mind; I was just wondering. The one that flirts with Ino. . . he mentioned something earlier about this being 'better than the bonus'."

Tsunade growled and folded herself onto the corner of the sofa, positioned alongside the wall. "I need to make a reminder to murder Shiranui in his sleep." The woman crossed her arms, shaking her head angrily. "He's such an idiot."

"You didn't need to try and make this better." Sakura offered the woman a small, embarrassed smile before continuing; "Just getting out of the house was enough for me. Listening to them yell all the time. . . it's sickening. It'd be better if I had just noticed that it was more often or if it had been sudden." The young woman lowered her eyes and sighed again. "I can't remember it being any different. That's probably the worst."

"I should have done more for you."

Sakura shook her head. "Oba-han, you've been there more than anyone else has; except for possibly Ino, and that's mostly because I was always in school with her, so I could escape to her house. Don't even say you could have done anything different. Okaa-san didn't exactly make seeing me easy for you."

"Yes. . ." Tsunade's lips pursed into a perfect cupid's bow. "You say Yuuka is still sneaking around with that Rizu boy?"

The pink-haired woman groaned. "Yea. He's such a letch."

Tsunade nodded. "That does tend to happen when young men decide to screw women more than double their age."

Sakura bit her lip anxiously. "I guess it's not considered 'sneaking around', though. She doesn't have anything to hide anymore." At her aunt's blank look, the woman sighed. "She applied for the divorce right before I left."

"I'm sorry, Sakura." The blonde shook her head furiously and leapt back to her feet, beckoning Sakura with a rapid series of waves with her fingers. "But enough of sore subjects. How about I introduce you to the lags? Ino already seems to be well acquainted. . ."

Sakura chuckled in spite of herself as she slid off the desk. "Ino-chan recently broke up with Sasuke-kun. Apparently he cheated on her. I think she likes knowing that men still find her attractive. I wouldn't be surprised if she let him bed her."

"Hm," murmured Tsunade, opening the door quietly. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Perhaps you should mention the number of possible diseases she could be contracting?"

"Oba-han!"

Tsunade chuckled. "Or not. It'd be quite amusing to see if she suddenly started sprouting pus-filled boils on her vag—"

A hand on her shoulder caused her to start, and she jumped a foot into the air—ignoring Sakura's reddening cheeks at her words. The woman spun and shot her right fist out angrily. "Jiraiya, you idiot!" she seethed, catching the man in the shoulder. "What have I said about sneaking up on me?"

The tall, white-haired man merely grinned. "I can't recall. . . you'll have to remind me after this next meeting."

The woman's shoulders slumped. "Oh, you _can't_ be serious? _Another_ meeting? We just had the last one not an hour ago!"

"It starts in about thirty minutes, in the Green Room." Jiraiya rolled his eyes, before he glanced at Sakura. "Hold the phone! This can't be who I think it is! Don't tell me this is little Sakura-chan. . ."

Sakura giggled. "I'm not _quite_ so little anymore, Oji-san," she scolded teasingly. He gave her a one-armed hug, and Sakura returned the hug willingly. "It's nice to see you. I've seen you less than I have Oba-han."

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "As you should; this man's a mockery of my business." She put a fist on her hip before tugging lightly on Sakura's arm. "Writing pornographic novels in his spare time. That is _not_ what we're supposed to do when we don't have a case. Anyway, I don't know why you still insist on calling him uncle, he's not even related to us."

The pink-haired woman chuckled. "Practically is. I don't know why the two of you don't just get _married_."

"Because we'd end up hating each other," Tsunade replied, "much like what your parents did. Now, do you want to meet my employees, or do you want to sit around with Jiraiya and reflect upon the different ways I could possibly ruin myself?"

Sakura sighed. "Alright, Oba-han. Lead the way." Tsunade shook her head exasperatedly, and Sakura glanced over her shoulder at Jiraiya as they walked away. She mouthed, _"I'll talk to _you_ later,"_ before continuing to follow after her aunt.

* * *

**  
**

Ino squealed slightly in Genma's grasp but did absolutely nothing to pull away.

"Hey, Sakura-chan! There you are!" she gasped, futilely attempted to brush Genma's hand away—her arms were lax, and there was no effort in her pushes. "C'mere!"

Tsunade stared at the group, before sighing. "Shiranui, I didn't know you had two heads."

The man grinned unabashedly, gently pushing Ino from his lap and onto the couch next to him. She pouted, disappointed. Sakura walked a little ways into the room, still standing behind Tsunade.

The woman turned to her niece and pointed. "The idiot is Shiranui Genma." She continued along, naming everyone else that was standing in the room: a dark-haired man, a red-eyes woman, a grinning woman, a dark-haired young man, a young woman with twin buns in her hair, and a pale-eyed young girl. "Sarutobi Asuma, Yuhi Kurenai, Mitarashi Anko, Nara Shikamaru, Hyuuga Tenten, Hyuuga Hinata." Tsunade smirked.

"You _should_ already know Uzumaki Naruto, but I can understand how your mind would try to erase the meeting from recollection—it _was_ rather gauche."

Sakura giggled. "Hey, Naruto-kun," she said, offering a wave.

The blonde boy laughed, returning her wave before wrapping his arm around the pale-eyed girl—recently named Hinata.

"Oba-han, wasn't there another one that I saw. . .?" Sakura asked quietly.

Tsunade nodded. "Hatake Kakashi," she said, glancing out of the room, her eyes leading Sakura's down the hallway. Her emerald eyes peered quietly at a half-open door towards the end. "Possibly the best lawyer here. He keeps to himself though, so you probably won't see him much for the rest of the night. Most likely, he's holed himself up in his office. He won't get his bonus, however, if he doesn't come to the party though; so you'll probably see him hunched in some corner with one of Jiraiya's god-awful books."

Sakura wrinkled her nose distastefully, but grinned. "So he reads Oji-san's novels too?" she snickered.

"More like studies them."

"That's why Kakashi's a _good man_." Jiraiya slowly marched into the room, chuckling under his breath. "Hey, Naruto, Tsunade, let's get going." He motioned with his hand towards the door.

Tsunade sighed, rolling her eyes, and placed her hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Hopefully this doesn't take long."

The woman let a smile ghost her features as she glanced at the other two men. "I trust that you understand I would rather spend my time with you than these two losers. I'll try to get out as soon as I possibly can." She took the girl's hand and pressed a key into her palm. "So you can get into my office. I keep it locked normally. We have a mess hall, too, if you get hungry. I'm terrible with directions, as you know, so I won't try to explain—it's not hard to find though."

Sakura nodded. "I'll be fine."

Naruto kissed Hinata on the cheek—causing her to blush—before walking towards them. He tugged Sakura into a hug. "It's nice to see you, Sakura-chan." She wriggled out his embrace.

"Yea, it's nice to see you too, Naruto-kun." Sakura pocketed the key and nodded. "I'll make sure to lock it back up if I do."

"Catch you later, little Sakura-chan!" Jiraiya placed his large palm on her head, ruffling her hair. Sakura bit her lip to keep herself from frowning in annoyance.

Once the older adults had turned to walk down the hallway, Ino lifted herself and slid back into Genma's lap with little difficulty. The blonde glanced at her friend, who stood awkwardly by the door. "Sakura-_chan_!" chided Ino, wrapping her arm about Genma's neck possessively. "C'mon and get over here. You need a proper introduction."

Sakura's lip curled slightly. "I think I'm good." She turned, placing her hand on the door-jam as she glanced over her shoulder. "I'll be around. Come find me when you're done playing."

Ino stared after her friend worriedly, biting her lip slightly. None of the other workers in the room paid the exiting young woman much attention—merely going about their business and enjoying their free time. Genma glanced up at the blonde girl as he shrugged his arms about her waist. "What's her problem?"

His voice was distant, but Sakura heard it.

She paused as she walked away, glancing over her shoulder slightly, before sighing and starting to walk again. Her feet led her down the hallway, towards the half-opened door she'd noticed earlier. Glancing around, she found the hallway deserted. She changed direction suddenly, facing the way she'd just come. Sliding her hands into her pockets, she walked slowly backwards, peering into the room; she hoped she'd remain unnoticed.

Her back bumped into something solid.

"Oh!" Sakura spun. "I'm so sorry, I was just—!"

"It's okay." Kakashi held up his right hand to quiet her. "No blood, no foul."

Sakura noticed as she glanced up at him that he had two different eye colors—his right was a dark gray, the color of cinders; his left was an electric crimson. Her stomach churned. "I was looking for the mess hall," she lied, her face coloring. "I haven't eaten since yesterday morning."

He slouched, seemingly oblivious to her apparent unease. "Airlines not serving proper food anymore?"

She shook her head. "I can't eat on airplanes. I get sick."

"Ah." He raised an eyebrow, inclining his head slightly to peer at her. Her face flushed and her eyes found her feet.

"Well, can't have guests go hungry." Kakashi began to walk away, glancing over his shoulder at her boredly when he noticed she wasn't following. "That was your cue to tag along after me."

Sakura glanced up from her shoes, nodding her head. "Sorry."

Kakashi smirked with one side of his mouth and continued to walk. "You apologize too much."

She avoided looking openly at him as she walked—even though it was the behind of him—she found him far too intimidating to look at directly. However, her beryl eyes hardened somewhat, and she crossed her arms under her chest. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?" she asked defensively, glancing away—she continued to follow him however. "Would you rather I run into people and _not_ be polite?"

Kakashi stopped and grasped the handle of a large door. "Perhaps you're _too_ polite." He glanced at her funnily as he pulled on the handle and held the door open for her. "People like that tend to get used."

"So you think I'm being used?" Her voice held more than a trace of skepticism. Sakura walked in front of him and paused, glancing up with what she hoped was a little attitude her parents had always said she had. "That's a strange thing to say to someone you've only just met."

He merely stared indolently back at her.

She shrugged her shoulders and then scoffed. "You don't even know me."

She wondered faintly what he would do—he only continued to peer down at her with a lazily, but slightly intrigued expression on his face.

Then he slid his right hand from his pocket and held it before him. "First time for everything, right?" he asked snarkily, tilting his hand slightly on an angle. "Hatake Kakashi, pleasure to meet you. And you're Haruno Sakura, am I correct? At least, that was the name Tsunade-san said."

Sakura narrowed her eyes slightly. "I don't trust you."

"You have to trust me to shake my hand? I promise; I don't bite." His mismatched eyes glittered with something that bordered on perverse amusement. "It's the _polite_ thing to do." His smirk intensified.

Sakura snapped her arm out, grabbing his hand and wiggling it slightly.

She went to pull back quickly, but his fingers wrapped around her hand at the last second. Sakura made a face as he tightened his grip, shaking her hand slowly up and down. "See? Isn't that nice," he snickered.

"Ya'know, you're a bit of a jerk."

"Probably." Kakashi let go of her hand. He used it to wave a second later when he started walking back the way they came. "It was. . . a pleasure. . . meeting you." Sakura could practically hear the delight in his voice. "The party starts at seven. Make sure you don't get lost on the way back. It'd be rather crass if you missed your own party, and I don't feel like having to come and find you."

Sakura watched his retreating figure with something akin to amazement on her face, before she walked completely into the mess hall, shutting the door behind her.

She held her hand before her face staring at it oddly, unaware that she was standing on some people's way. "Strange man."

* * *

**  
**

Kakashi used his foot to kick the door to his office shut.

Clicking the lights off, he settled himself back on the black sofa pressed against the wall.

He cradled his head with the palm of his left hand, propping his feet up on the armrest at the end of the sofa.

"Strange girl. . ." he murmured to himself, holding his right hand out before his face. It wasn't unusual to be shocked by touching something every once in a while, but it _had_ to be a coincidence that she had shocked him. He placed his hand on his chest, closing his eyes. I'm imagining things, he told himself. This is how you know you _need_ a nap.

But the smell of lime didn't fade from under his nose.

* * *

**  
**

Yes, I'm definitely thinking four Parts now.

I enjoy writing KakaSaku so much. It's most definitely my overall OTP. I'm wondering. . . I normally get more reviews for a first chapter. Alaina figured it was the holiday. I'm actually wondering if people like AU less. xD Reviews are my only way of knowing how many people are _reading_ my story. I wish could have like a "read" filter. And show how many people spend at least like two minutes or more on your story.

Just because somebody "views" it, doesn't mean they're reading it.

Working very hard on _Picture Trends_. Hopefully you'll see Chapter V out by the end of this week.

(I wonder, does anybody else find it easier to write AU than normal? Because I find AU much easier to work with.)

Thanks for reading.

- Hiko Mokushi


	3. Part Three

**Title:** The Way You Smile Shines the Heavens  
**Fandom/Community:** Naruto / **50scenes  
Prompt:** Table 2: #44 — Christmas  
**Pairing:** Hatake Kakashi x Haruno Sakura  
**Rating:** R  
**Warning:** Language, sexuality, alcohol and brief drug use  
**Disclaimer:** Kishimoto-sensei owns. Small quote dedication to the movies _Cruel Intentions_ and _Hercules_.  
**Summary:** He'd planned on spending his holiday as his normally did—with a nice bottle of Jack to wash down the bitterness. She'd planned on dealing with her dysfunctional parents as she always had—excusing herself to her room and turning her CD player up to max volume. Funnily enough, they weren't too upset to find some reason to abandon their traditions. AU.

* * *

**  
**

**Part Three.**

The man glanced up lazily from his book, eyes sweeping the room critically. _So. . . she skipped out after all. Can't say that I'm surprised, though_.

The music was far too loud for his liking and the regular lights had been replaced with either black lights or green and red flashing neon lights—"to give it that Christmas feel". The man lifted a glass of eggnog to his lips. He lowered it quickly again when he friend started speaking again.

"Admit it, Kakashi; I _scored_." Genma clapped an arm around the silver-haired man's shoulder, grinning like a Cheshire cat. His eyes followed the slim blonde girl—really, the curve of her behind—as she followed Tenten across the room. "C'mon, she's gorgeous," he reasoned, rubbing his chin with his free hand. His toothpick bounced energetically as he spoke. "And best of all, she's on the_ rebound_."

Asuma blew a ring of smoke as he spoke. "You're _really_ enjoying this, aren't you?"

Kakashi shook his head and shifted away from the man. "You're pathetic. Can't you get a girl the _regular_ way?" He lifted his book higher, sighing softly to himself. "Tsunade-san will kill you if you fuck and run with her niece's best friend."

"You're heartless. Like I'd do that." Genma made a dramatic show of crossing his arms in a huff.

Kurenai rolled her eyes and wrapped her arm around Asuma's. "It's not like you haven't done it before, Genma," Kurenai murmured, gently tugging on the dark-haired man. He tossed a smile at Kakashi—who raised an eyebrow in response—putting his cigarette out in the ashtray on the table in front of him. "I don't understand why you _wouldn't_ expect us to assume it's just how you'd function."

The woman glanced at Asuma, ignoring Genma's sputtering completely, and smiled coyly. "How about I give you your present now?"

He grinned. "Sounds fine with me. Lead the way." He planted a kiss at the corner of her mouth—Kurenai had turned her head slightly at the last minute playfully.

Genma glanced enviously after them, sighing dejectedly.

"Just go." Kakashi turned the page without glancing at his friend, but his eyes had narrowed irritatedly. "Watching you pine gives me the creeps."

The man was gone before Kakashi even had the chance to glance up. He followed the brown hair all the way to the other side of the room, where the man expertly slid an arm around the young blonde's waist. The woman didn't seem to mind, as she turned her head to raise her lips to his ear. Genma tried to lead her away from the young woman she'd been speaking with, but she shook her head and extracted herself from him. The man sighed, and then pointed.

He pointed towards Kakashi.

His mismatched eyes watched as the woman approached him slowly.

"You're name's Kakashi, right?" She held her hands behind her back, leaning forward slightly. Her hair fell in front of her face and blocked her right eye from view. She bit her lip anxiously. "You only just got here, so I was wondering, have you seen Sakura-chan around anywhere? She was supposed to meet us here, but. . . I don't know where she went. And Tsunade-san's been in meetings all day, so I haven't been able to ask her." She froze for a moment and then her blue eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Are you listening?"

"Why does everyone ask me that?" murmured Kakashi grumpily to himself. He glanced up and sighed, snapping his book shut. "No, I haven't seen her."

Ino sighed forlornly.

"Oh. Well. . . thank you anyway." She crossed her arms. "I just expected with everything happening." She glanced back at Kakashi dejectedly. "She does this sometimes. It's not like she's depressed or anything, but she just gets really antisocial when things like this happen. I don't know how to break her out of it. I'd hoped that with us being here, she would have been different."

Kakashi's eyes slowly rose again. "'Things like this'? You're about as vague as Tsunade-san."

The blonde tilted her head to the side. "Tsunade-san never told you?" she asked quietly, stepping forward to avoid the passing Shikamaru.

"No." His fingers rapped lightly upon the orange book in his grasp. "It's her personal life; it's not my place to pry."

"Well, you _seem_ nice enough. I think I can trust you not to repeat any of this to anyone. Especially not Sakura-chan. She'd kill me if she knew I told you." Ino smirked as she slowly brushed her hair behind her ear. "It's her parents. They've never had the best marriage, but it's never been this bad. Her mom applied for divorce. And it's Christmas. . . Tsunade-san figured it'd be a better holiday if she spent it here. Not cooped up in her room with her music on full blast like she normally does."

Kakashi blinked at her, before nodding. "Yes, well, I'm sorry. I haven't seen her since just after the two of you arrived."

Ino nodded, already walking away. "Yea, thanks anyway."

When he was sure that no one was looking, the silver-haired man slipped quietly out of the quad.

* * *

**  
**

Sakura sighed, leaning back against the cushioned booth, staring through the haze her pink bangs made in front of her eyes.

She glanced towards the clock on the wall. It figured. Twenty after seven. That explained why the mess hall was practically empty—almost everyone was up two flights of stairs in the quad, enjoying the party.

Not that she minded.

The young woman curled her arms around her as though cold.

Screw the party. She had come here to spend quality time with Ino and her aunt. Look what happened when she tried to be sociable and friendly. She ended up with an aunt who had no time for her and a best friend who wanted to get into an older man's pants.

"I'm such an idiot."

Her head dropped onto her arms.

* * *

**  
**

Asuma wrapped his arm around Kurenai's waist, pulling her closer against his chest as they cuddled on a chair in the corner. It was dark enough that nobody was paying much attention to them or could even really even see them well enough to notice. He pressed his lips against her temple, chuckling. "The cuckoo has left the nest."

"You're an idiot, you know that?" The red-eyed woman shifted in his lap, laughing quietly to herself as she rubbed her nose along his bearded jaw.

"I wanna know what's up with him, though," the dark-haired man murmured, kissing her softly on the lips. He lifted his drink to his lips as he pulled back, watching the silver-haired man from where he sat—angled enough so that he could see his friend step into the elevator, hands in his pockets. "He's not going back to the office. He wouldn't be leaving. There's nothing downstairs except the mess hall, janitors' closets, and the atrium."

"There's that girl." Kurenai's fingers threaded through his hair.

Asuma glanced down at her amusedly. "What, Tsunade-san's niece? What would Kakashi want to do with her?"

He furrowed his brows in contemplation, taping his fingers along the woman's spine. "She's what, early twenties? I know Genma's never had much call for rules, but Kakashi wouldn't be stupid enough to be trying to bed somebody half his age for fun."

Kurenai shook her head. "I heard that Ino girl talking to Hinata earlier, while we were setting up the tree—she helped with the ornaments," she whispered, nodding her head in direction of the young blonde woman, enveloped in Genma's arms. "I think her name's Saka, or Sakura or something like that. Apparently, she's here because her parents are getting a divorce."

The man whistled. "At Christmastime?" he asked rhetorically, shaking his head. "Nice parents."

"Tsunade-san probably told Kakashi why she's here. I think that's the real reason we're holding the party. Seeing as Tsunade-san's busy with meetings." Kurenai lifted her red eyes and smiled softly. "You know how Kakashi's family life was. He most likely sympathizes with her. Probably wants to try and make her Christmas the best he can."

Asuma chuckled. "You give the man too much credit. He probably just wants to make sure he gets his bonus."

Kurenai rolled her eyes, tapping his nose with her finger. "I _hope_ he's being nice." She kissed him, sighing. "It's nice to see him without his nose buried in a book." She glanced over her shoulder at where her coworker had exited, smiling softly to herself.

* * *

**  
**

Kakashi glanced down at the young woman, huddled against the table. He tilted his head slightly to the side—his spiked hair followed suit a few moments afterward—and chuckled quietly to himself. He wasn't_ quite_ sure if she was asleep. . . but she sure looked it.

Her short, shocking pink hair was slightly mussed, and fell in front of her face. She was laid out on her left side, her arms crossed against the table, and her chin resting in the slight hollow they made. She breathed in and out, very slowly; she really did look as though she were asleep.

He lifted his foot at tapped the sole of her shoe.

"Are you really asleep, or are you just fucking with me?" His head shifted to the other side, voice holding mild amusement.

Sakura shifted slightly, giving a soft grunt, before settling back down. Her head tilted slightly on her arm, and her hair fluttered slightly.

The silver-haired man snickered to himself. "Awwh. How absolutely adorable." His voice dripped with sarcasm. "I thought I said it was rude to miss your own party?"

Glad that he'd left his book off in his room, he leaned over her, glancing down hesitantly. He slid one arm around her mid-back and the other underneath her knees. Lifting her, she stiffened in his grasp.

"Idiot! I was pretended!" Sakura squirmed, thrashing about in his arms. "C'mon! Lemme go!" She pushed at his chest, but he held her firmly.

Kakashi rolled his eyes, sighing, as he tightened his grip on the flailing young woman. He held her firmly to his chest and walked backwards, until his back touched the wall. "You know, if I wasn't so smart, all your struggling would have made me drop you. I'm less likely to fall, as I would rather drop you than fall." He held her tighter for a few seconds, before she gave up, and went slightly limp against him.

Sakura sighed and puffed air from her lips to get her hair out of her eyes.

"You know you suck, right?" she asked, crossing her arms. "Can you put me down now?"

"I was instructed that you were supposed to have fun at this party. . ." Kakashi started slowly walking towards the door. No doubt he _would_ fall if she suddenly started to thrash around again. He really didn't want to have to drop her to keep himself from falling—if she got injured (or even slightly bruised in some manner) Tsunade would have his ass. "It's a little difficult for me to ensure that if you're not _at_ the party."

The pink-haired woman mocked his eye roll. "I wouldn't enjoy the party even if I was there. I didn't come here to have a party. I _came_ to visit my aunt. She's obviously far too busy." Sakura glanced sidelong at Kakashi from underneath her cropped bangs. "You're not going to put me down, are you?"

"That depends."

He smirked—Sakura found she didn't like it. Or really, she _did_ like it, but she refused to acknowledge it. This Hatake Kakashi seemed very much like her own Uchiha Sasuke. Give him one compliment and his ego swelled to ten times larger than she could stand. The man who held her was too cockily handsome for his own good.

When he didn't answer, she sighed and poked his shoulder with her elbow. "Depends on what? Finish your statement."

Kakashi shrugged. The motion caused his arms to tighten slightly about her, she shivered; she could actually feel the muscles tensing beneath her. "Depends on if you're going to bolt as soon as your feet hit the ground."

Sakura mentally hit herself and growled audibly. "Too handsome _and_ too smart. You're really some piece of work, _aren't you_, Hatake-san?" She didn't even stop to think about the repercussions of her words. She'd just ignore anything he said anyway.

"Excuse me, what was that?"

"Like I said, you're too smart for your own good. It's highly annoying. I'm surprised you even have friends."

The man knew what he heard. He let it roll off and merely offered her another of his fearsome smirks. "Insulting me, you know, is not going to get out of going to the party," he said quietly, turning the corner—she didn't recognize it. This wasn't the hallway that he had first led her down. His knees bent, and she felt the tops of his thigh graze her backside when he stretched out the arm around her shoulders to press the button for the elevator.

The young woman found herself in a precarious situation. She did not want to spend the rest of her night alone—she wanted her aunt. But unfortunately, her aunt was unavailable; she would have to give up this wish. That only meant that she was going to be working extra hard to get her second wish: she did not want to go to this party.

"Please, Hatake-san?" she begged, folding her hands prayerlike in front of his face. He walked calmly into the elevator, ignoring the way she had slightly begun to struggle in his grasp. "I'll do anything."

"It's not nice you know," he continued on, as though he had never heard her speak. He pressed another button—she almost jerked this time as her butt brushed his legs, but managed to keep herself stable. Leaning against the wall, Kakashi let her balance mostly on his chest. "Not _polite_, to avoid a party thrown for you."

"Quit the bullshit, Hatake-san," Sakura snapped, poking his shoulder roughly with her finger. "You don't even know why I'm avoiding this party. Besides, it's not _polite_, either, to hoist someone you hardly know into your arms and refuse to let them go. I could press charges, if I wanted to. Sexual harassment and all of that."

Kakashi tilted his head slightly to the side. "Are you a lesbian?"

Sakura's cheeks flushed crimson, a few shades darker than her hair; Kakashi felt his grin widen. _"Excuse me?"_

"Sorry," he murmured, shrugging, as the elevator shuddered to a stop. "I just sort of picked up a little of that lesbian-vibe. Most straight women _enjoy_ a man holding them in their arms."

"That's it." She started struggling again.

The doors to the elevator opened—Sakura could hear Christmas music pounding from too much bass. Most of the lights had been turned off on the floor, but there were large Christmas decorations and long strings of lights placed strategically so that you could see perfectly; even something minor as where the carpet lifted higher than the surrounding area.

"Calm down. Your ass won't feel very good if I drop you on it." Kakashi rolled his eyes and walked down the hallway. She remembered this hallway—to the left led to the quad, to the right, his office.

He took the right.

Dropping her onto the sofa, he shut the door. "Holy shit." Sakura gasped, throwing her arm across her face to shield her eyes when he snapped the lights on. The lights flashed bright red and green—Kakashi flicked them off almost as soon as they were on.

"Idiots," he muttered. They even got into _his_ room and changed the lights.

Sakura crossed her arms, eyes adjusting slowly to the darkened room. She glared at him, viridian eyes glittered in the light. Kakashi raised an eyebrow, plopping into his seat. He stared at her for a moment, returning her glare equally. Then he sighed and shrugged. "I can't force you to go to the party," he admitted, "but I _am_ asking you."

"What's it matter to you anyway? Remember the part about not knowing me?" The young woman flipped her hair agitatedly.

He slid his palm across his chest over his heart. "Now, Sakura-chan, I'm hurt," he whined amusedly, mocking her. He only smirked wider when her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I thought we were finally getting to be friends. I showed you the mess, I introduced myself—I introduced _you_—I even carried you across the threshold of my office." He found that he enjoyed the way her lips pursed in irritation more than he should have. "I thought the bonding helped."

"You practically molested me," she ground out, kicking her shoes off to curl her feet underneath her. "I could have you arrested if I wanted."

"Yes, but you don't." Kakashi shrugged, grinning arrogantly.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "How do you figure? I was _struggling_. Was is it about men thinking 'no' means 'yes', and 'get lost' means 'take me, I'm yours'?"

"Sakura-chan!" Silver hair fell over his face as he chuckled darkly. It sent a shiver down Sakura's spine to hear it. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were coming onto me. Are you trying to seduce me?"

"I'm about to _run_ out of your office and start screaming 'rape!', Hatake-san," Sakura muttered, glancing away. Kakashi was pleased to see the same blush that she'd worn earlier was once again flushing her face.

"Trust me," murmured Kakashi. He folded his hands, pushing on the ground to lift the front legs of his chair off the ground. "If I were making you scream anything, the last thing on your mind would be 'rape'."

Sakura opened her mouth, and then snapped it shut again.

"Make this a little easy for me, please?" Kakashi sighed. "Will you just go the party? For a little bit? I only need you to show up—I swear you'll have fun once you get there. I'm supposed to make sure you have fun. You're making me feel like I'm not doing my duty, or my job, or whatever you'd call this. You could be at home, with your family having fun. . ." He knew it was a lie—and he could tell by the way her eyes darkened she was thinking about the ironies of his statement—but that Ino girl had said not to tell her he knew of her dysfunctional family. "But you're here, your aunt is busy, and you just _look_ depressed. I'm steadily losing faith in my ability as a man."

The pink-haired woman chuckled. She covered her mouth with the tips of her fingers, smiling slightly despite the pink tint her cheeks still contained. "That _would_ be funny."

Kakashi shot a glower at her out of the corner of his eye.

She merely giggled.

"The least you could do is tell me why you refuse to go to the party," he grumbled softly, crossing his arms. He pulled a pen from an open drawer in his desk and bit it. "As I'm amusing you with my steadily decreasing masculinity." Maybe he could get her to tell him on her own.

She shook her head and echoed his sigh. "I just don't want to be there. You don't exactly want to be there either, I notice. What's it matter? I'm not asking you why you don't feel like socializing. I don't really think that it's very _polite_ to ask a lady about her past."

"You're infuriating."

Sakura's eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms again. "You're annoying."

Kakashi smirked, arms spread wide in an arrogant sort of shrug. "But at least I have my dashing good looks. Or what word did you use earlier? _Handsome_?"

She couldn't believe he remembered that.

He sighed again. "You're not going to tell me, are you?" he asked quietly.

She shook her head and smiled, trying to ignore the furious way her cheeks warmed when he looked at her that way.

His eyes, despite their oddity, were incredibly piercing—especially the left one; the crimson one. She couldn't help but blush when he looked at her, and she didn't even know why. It felt as though he were looking into her very soul. That was discomforting in and of itself, but the strange thing was that she did not feel terribly uneasy. It reminded her slightly of when she was little and her parents would hold parties; and her father's businessmen friends would remark upon how beautiful she would grow up to be. It made her embarrassed, but it wasn't completely un-enjoyable.

"They won't have espresso at the party will they?" she asked suddenly, and Kakashi blinked; breaking the stare that he hadn't even realized he'd begun.

Coughing slightly, Kakashi shifted in his seat. "They have eggnog. . . and soda, I think. Possibly coffee?"

"I'll go to the party, but you'll have to take me to get some espresso later." Sakura smirked and got to her feet. "I spotted a nice coffee shop on the way here. It's not too far, so unless you have a car, we'll just walk." She held out her hand to shake.

The silver-haired man narrowed his eyes. If he had known that he could win so easily by merely offering a trade, then he would have asked her what she wanted from him a half hour ago. "I guess I must concede." He spoke quietly, peering at her in the same intrigued manner he'd realized earlier made her blush. He removed himself from his seat and walked around the desk, taking her hand slowly.

"I asked Oba-han about it earlier. She knows how I love my espresso." Sakura smirked, glancing at the small watch on her wrist as she released his hand. "It closes by eleven, and it's seven-forty now; so I'll come find you around ten. I think I can trust you not to attempt to rape or kill me on the way over. I seem to recall promising my driver that I wouldn't get myself murdered."

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Yes, because I'd have anything to gain by disposing of you." He smirked. "Besides, who knows? Maybe it'd be my body they'd find."

"I'd have no reason to rape or murder _you_, Hatake-san." She chuckled and walked towards the door, opening it as she stuck out her tongue at him over her shoulder.

The man put his hand on the door for a second, hindering it at about halfway open.

Sakura froze, her hand still on the knob.

She was sure that her face had never blushed this much in her entire life—including the time when she'd still been crushing on Sasuke, and he had told her he liked her skirt. Kakashi leaned down slightly, speaking directly into her ear. "That's right," he murmured softly, "because you can't rape the willing." The man pulled the door open the rest of the way and walked around her then; out of his office, and down the hall—without stopping to look back at her.

Sakura stared after him before shaking her head—it felt as though she'd been plunged into a pool and needed to shake the water from her ears. With Hatake Kakashi, she was never going to stop blushing. When she entered the party, Ino grabbed her, speaking loudly; she felt herself loosen up.

But she still couldn't wipe the crimson flush from her face when she spotted Kakashi smirking at her from across the quad.

* * *

**  
**

Yes. I love AU!Kakashi. He makes my life.

I'll say right now, in accordance to the "you can't rape the willing" pun, it's meant as a joke; and I take rape very seriously. This is a joke that me and my friends say to each other all the time, mainly because we have a habit of boob-tapping/ball-tapping people. The tapped person normally responds with "rape!" and we'll make a joke about how you "can't rape the willing". There's two more jokes, but the two of them couldn't be worked in as well. I doubt they will be.

First Chapter Update of the new year. Hopefully _Picture Trends_ will come by the end of the week. I'm on a little bit of a block about how to write this one. The next two chapters should be easier though. They're the type of things I enjoy writing.

I think I may have porn coming as well! All of you should be excited about that. xD

- Hiko Mokushi


	4. Part Four

**Title:** The Way You Smile Shines the Heavens  
**Fandom/Community:** Naruto / **50scenes  
Prompt:** Table 2: #44 — Christmas  
**Pairing:** Hatake Kakashi x Haruno Sakura  
**Rating:** R  
**Warning:** Language, sexuality, alcohol and brief drug use  
**Disclaimer:** Kishimoto-sensei owns. Small quote dedication to the movies _Cruel Intentions_ and _Hercules_.  
**Summary:** He'd planned on spending his holiday as his normally did—with a nice bottle of Jack to wash down the bitterness. She'd planned on dealing with her dysfunctional parents as she always had—excusing herself to her room and turning her CD player up to max volume. Funnily enough, they weren't too upset to find some reason to abandon their traditions. AU.

* * *

**  
**

"It's almost _Christmas_, man," Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms against his chest. He sat on the other side of Jiraiya, next to the prodigy, Hyuuga Neji. The blond wasn't surprised to see that the famed genius was started to doze in his seat—though he _was_ rather amused. "Can't we just, ya'know, go home? Have actual lives?"

"If you didn't keep interrupting me, Uzumaki-san," the Spokeswoman chuckled quietly, as though secretly amused by his antics, "we hope to have this done before the clock strikes midnight. Perhaps you'll allow us to proceed? Then you'll be able to get home to your fiancée?"

The blond muttered darkly but drew his eyes back to the front. "I'm listening."

Tsunade rolled her eyes, not listening as one of the businesswomen she was supposedly working for got to her feet, speaking smugly down to them.

Instead, the blonde woman was focused more on _how_ the woman was speaking.

She wasn't too pretty, Takanawa-dono; but she wasn't absolutely frightful. She had her dark brown hair (Tsunade _knew_ she must use dye—the woman was almost as old as she) pulled fiercely back into a tight bun—probably in an attempt to pull off the 'fresh face-lifted' look women were going for nowadays—her glasses perched precariously on the tip of her nose. Her business suit was prim and neat; tailored to fit and without even the faintest hint of a wrinkle.

And good lord, the woman was _boring_.

Tsunade lifted her hand and peered at her fingernails. She hadn't had them done in a while. Perhaps after this little holiday fiasco, she'd attempt to take Ino and Sakura out to a spa for the day. That would be nice. Take a day or so off work, get a facial, a massage, pedicure, manicure. . .

An elbow in her side brought her back to the present, and she glanced furiously at Jiraiya, who leaned heavily to her side. She waited until Takanawa-dono turned to point at her slide, before hissing; "What's the big idea?"

Jiraiya shrugged, slipping a small piece of folded paper into her lap discreetly.

The woman stared at him. What were they in, the sixth grade? She leaned back in her seat, sliding her hands into her lap and unfolding the note as inconspicuously as she possibly could. Thankfully, even in the darkened room, the white-haired man's elegant script was still legible.

_Why is Sakura-chan here?_

Glancing up again, to make sure no one had noticed her—Tsunade was sure she was safe, as she had been daydreaming for the past forty minutes and no one had said a word. Picking up her folder, she pretended to busy herself by looking inside it.

The woman slid the paper in front of her. Picking up her pen, she scrawled back quietly. The note was slid back across the table.

Jiraiya seized it and opened it behind his briefcase, dark eyes scanning it swiftly.

_Yuuka and Nobu are getting a divorce. You know Sakura, she bottles all her emotions up inside of her, and when she can't hold them anymore, they explode out. I really don't want to see her do anything stupid like Yuuka used to do when she couldn't get our parent's attention. I figured coming here was far better than her spending Christmas at home._

_Not that me stuck in meetings all day and night helps._

He scrawled a hastily reply.

_You paying Kakashi that bonus to have him make sure Genma doesn't try to get into her pants?_

Tsunade rolled her eyes.

_No. He's just the one I like the most._

Jiraiya nodded, and as the board director turned to comment on something to Takanawa-dono, he leaned over, head dipping to whisper into her ear. "I thought you didn't like men who read smutty novels?"

She could hear the smirk in his voice. Lifting her hand swiftly, Tsunade fastened her hand in his long hair. "I said I didn't _trust_ men who read your smutty novels, not that I didn't _like_ them."

The blonde let go of him as Takanawa-dono turned around again, speaking loud and clear. The woman glanced towards Tsunade, who raised her eyebrows as though intrigued with whatever the woman had said. Takanawa-dono smiled, though it seemed rather forced—her lips worked awkwardly on her face; as though her teeth were false and she were using her lips to force them back into place. Jiraiya shook his head when Tsunade batted her eyelashes at him; the woman had turned away as soon as Takanawa-dono's attention had been distracted.

* * *

**  
**

Her hands clutched at the cup of soda she'd been nursing for the past hour and a half.

Those same eyes that had been watching her the entire night _still_ bore into her back. She could _feel_ them. They were burning. She was sure that her entire face must still be flushing red from how hot she felt. It was like being set on fire with a laser. _What was that commercial?_ she asked herself, almost shaking her head. _"It's a death-ray, a_ death-ray,_" I think. . ._ she quoted quietly to herself.

Sakura sipped lightly at her drink and flipped her hair lightly, risking—what she hoped—was a casual and discreet glance over her shoulder.

Her green eyes slid across the floor first.

Locating his feet—she'd spent the past forty minutes staring at them—she pretended to mess with her hair as she observed them. They were regular men's dress shoes; black, shiny, leather. However, they were attached to a pair of rather nice black slacks; her eyes drifted slightly upward, and her lip curled at the corner. Those black slacks led up to a rather form-fitting, crisp, white button-up shirt—she stared at his bicep through the fringe of her bangs. Anywhere else one his body it didn't look like he worked out, he was tall, thin and lanky; but his arms just stood out. Especially when he had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

Without thinking, her eyes slipped further up his form, across his chest, along his neck. They fixed on his lips for a minute, then the bottom of the scar on his cheek. She couldn't help it. She wanted to see his mismatched eyes again. She regretted it as soon as she allowed her gaze to slide those extra centimeters skyward.

A smirk unraveled itself across the lower-half of his face and she found herself blushing when the man winked at her with his single crimson eye.

Sakura spun back around, almost spilling her Coke.

"So, Sakura, Ino says you guys are going to be here until after New Years?"

The pink-haired young woman glanced across their little circle of folk, watching the young woman with her hair in buns smiling at her. "Uh, yea," Sakura managed, her face still flushed beet-red. "Ino doesn't go back to University until January 10th, and I may be staying here after that. . . I don't come back for graduate school until September. My aunt wants me to take an internship here."

"Lucky," breathed Ino, glancing over Sakura's shoulder. "I'd give anything to stay just a weekend more." She winked then blew a kiss. Sakura glanced over her shoulder quickly, forgetting momentarily _who_ Ino was making kissy-faces with. She watched Genma lick his lips at Ino and Kakashi roll his eyes beside his friend. Sakura blushed and turned back around.

The girl who'd been introduced as Hinata smiled embarrassedly. "You seem familiar with Hatake-san, though; have you met before?"

"No." Sakura shook her head and took another drink her soda in an attempt to calm her racing heartbeat. Her throat was parched. She was surprised she hadn't gone through her drink faster than this. "Apparently my aunt made him my guard dog or something. He's supposed to make sure that I have a 'fun time' at this party." She tossed a glower over her shoulder. This time, when her eyes met his she didn't blush—Kakashi's smirk widened.

Bun-girl smiled knowingly. "Oh. . . so that's why he's been staring at you all night?"

"Ugh," groaned Sakura, "that's just gross. He's like what? Twenty years older than me?"

"Really?" Sakura was _really_ beginning to get annoyed by that stupid, _perceptive_ look on the brunette's pretty face. "If Kakashi's twenty years older than you, you must be some sort of genius, then; entering graduate college at the age of sixteen." She let out a giggle. "I could have sworn you were at least twenty."

The young woman scowled. "Twenty-two."

"That's not _too_ bad, Sakura-chan," the Bun-girl praised, clapping the tips of her fingers on the back of her hand mockingly. "Kakashi's only thirty-six. Fourteen years isn't _that_ much of an age difference."

"Besides," added Ino, coming back into the conversation after a good bout of eye-flirting with the older man across the room; "weren't you the one who was absolutely in _love_ with that _Memoirs of a Geisha_ movie? And didn't you cry all over the place when the Chairman became Sayuri's _danna_, if I remember correctly? And then, didn't we go look that pairing up and figure out he was something like _thirty_ years older than her? And you told me love doesn't have age limits?"

Sakura turned her head on its side and shook it slightly at the blonde. "You can't remember what you _ate_ this morning, but you can remember something I said after watching a random movie from like seven years ago? That's bad."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Tenten, she's in denial. She _has_ to be. Kakashi-san is _fine_."

_Hell yes, _that's_ her name!_ Sakura thought to herself, finally happy that someone had said the brunette's name finally. _Now I don't have to keep calling her 'Bun-girl.'_ "Seriously, don't you pay enough attention to Shiranui-san?"

"They're right next to each other! It's hard to not notice!" the young woman protested in spite herself; she laughed however and grabbed a class of some form of punch off a tray as Shikamaru passed them, carrying it. Tenten missed him, and then ran over. She grabbed two more glasses, thanked him, and then ran back.

"Here," said Tenten, "try this." She shoved a glass into Sakura's free hand. She took a big sip—Ino was sucking on the rim of her cup, eyeing the area behind Sakura yet again.

Sakura, however, had to pause.

Something about the atmosphere in the room changed considerably the moment her hand had instinctively taken the glass. She had no real idea where it was coming from, but she could fathom a guess. He was so annoying! Wasn't this the type of thing that got classified under "enjoying the party? Once again, she risked a glance over her shoulder. The man's mismatched eyes had narrowed suspiciously. He glowered at her openly, barely attempting to conceal his displeasure. She almost missed the way his lip moved when he smirked, or the way his eyes seemed to simmer. He had lost all of the playfulness he'd possessed earlier, instead looking far too serious.

She tried to ignore it. Sakura was _really bad_ at ignoring things. Especially when they were glaring her in the face.

_Fuck him_.

Sakura raised the glass to her lips. The tiniest drops had passed her lips when she noticed that silver flash of the man's hair. She tugged the glass down sharply as he stopped in front of her.

"Hey, Kakashi-san," Tenten said with a flirty smile. She gave a small wave. "Enjoying the party? Have you been to your office yet?" Her dark brown eyes betrayed the excitement. Then she glanced at Sakura and smirked. "You've met Sakura-chan, right? She's a sixteen-year old genius!" Ino snickered behind both of her hands.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Sixteen?"

"Don't ask." Sakura spun and went to bring the cup to her lips again.

"Can I speak to you _outside_, Sakura-chan?" he asked, whispering in an attempt to conceal his thinly veiled animosity. He didn't bother waiting for her to answer her. He grabbed her elbow—not painfully, just securely—and led her forcibly out of the room. The hallway lights had been dimmed slightly. Somewhere around the corner, there was a shuffling that sounded very much like a couple's bad attempt at not being caught pulling a quickie.

Once away from the view of the window—he careened his head at an awkward angle to make sure that neither of their parties could see them. He then glared at her again. "What was that?"

"What was _what_?" She wasn't going to let him beat her to the punch again—pun intended, fully intended; she was ready to piss him off. He'd been staring at her all night and making her blush and she _didn't like_ the fact that it was making her all hot and bothered. The man was thirty-six, she was twenty-two, he was a _lawyer_, and he annoyed her anyway. She swiftly brought the cup to her lips and managed to take a large gulp before the man tore the cup away from her. He had _amazing_ luck, at least—the trashcan was only an arm's reach out of the way.

Kakashi tossed the cup into the bin and glared more. Sakura shifted uncomfortably. "You don't want to drink that," he said matter-of-factly.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. She already understood that—there was a terrible rubber taste inside her mouth, and the back of her throat was burning. "Why's that? What if I _liked_ it?"

"Genma made the punch." He smirked at her—she felt even more upset than when he'd glared at her. "You never know _what_ he put in it. I saw him crunching up something in a bowl in his office earlier."

"Yea, like he's going to drop happy pills into our punch or something." The young woman rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, leaning back against the wall. She hoped to _god_ that hadn't happened. She had a nasty experience with happy pills that included her dancing on a pool table in nothing but her tidy-whities (it had been laundry day!) and attempting to get some one to go out and buy her chocolate. Mixing alcohol with drugs only worsened the effects. She was a medical student—she knew this stuff.

Kakashi shook his head. "I wouldn't put it past him."

Green eyes furrowed anxiously. "Do I need to go force myself to throw up?"

The man shook his head. "No, he's not stupid enough to put it in there undiluted," he sighed, tossing a slight glare towards the quad. "It'll be just enough to make you sick, not get you high. He thinks it's funny." Taking her by the arm again, he led her down the hallway—she didn't try to protest; she was happy that she recognized this hallway. And that he wasn't carrying her. "You need some sort of decent food in your system though. That coffee shop you saw earlier have a nice selection of donuts or something?"

Sakura raised a sculpted eyebrow—it looked natural, but really she was trying to mock his actions from earlier. If he took notice, he didn't say anything. "It's not even ten yet. . ."

"We'll go early."

She sighed. "I don't have my coat, and it's in Oba-han's office—which is currently locked."

"What happened to that key she gave you earlier?"

"How do you know that Oba-han gave me a key?" cried Sakura, stopping and turning to look at him indignantly. "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to listen in on private conversations?"

Kakashi merely glanced at her. "Actually, no; I was raised by my father. Partially. My mother left my father after I was born and died shortly after that. I don't even remember what she looks like." He said it all so casually—far too coolly for Sakura's liking. It was crisp, short; like when somebody announced that they were going to walk back to their office. It was like he was trying _too hard_ to not making a big deal about it.

"Oh," she said anyway, depressed that that was all she could manage in the face of his words. "I'm sorry?"

"Don't apologize. I never knew the woman." He shrugged and started leading her back down the hallway. "You can't miss what you never had." They came to the elevators and he pressed the button, causing it to light up red. They waited in silence.

When he pushed her into the elevator and hit the button labeled _Ground Floor_, she twisted again out of his grasp on her elbow. "I said I don't have my coat."

Kakashi nodded and pushed her out the door. "You can use mine."

That caused her to pause. "Y-your coat?" she stuttered, glancing at him. He nodded slowly. "Oh. Okay."

* * *

**  
**

"Did you see that?" Tenten smirked and leaned against Ino's back, peering over the woman's hair out the door. "He's taking her somewhere. Do you know anything about this?"

Ino shook her head. "Sakura doesn't tell me anything about her relationships. But I can't believe she's leaving with him."

Hinata stood beside them—facing the opposite direction. She refused to spy. "Does it matter?"

Ino and Tenten exchanged a glance. "I just want my best friend to get laid, that's all!" Ino laughed, dragging the two of them back to the party.

* * *

**  
**

"I was kidding when I said we could walk."

She pretended to shiver.

Kakashi merely turned his head to the side slightly and smirked. "You said it though."

Sakura wasn't cold though. She didn't know how _he_ wasn't though. She observed him through the corner of her eye.

He had on only his white button-up, sleeves still rolled up, first two top buttons undone and his tie unwrapped and hanging on either side of his neck. He had his hands shoved into his pockets, his eyes focused fully on the sidewalk in front of him. He didn't seem the least bit cold. He seemed warmer than Sakura. And she was wrapped in his two-large dark green corduroy-insulated coat. And she was in_heaven_.

It smelled exactly like him. She hadn't paid much attention to his cologne earlier. She'd been in his arms too short a time to take notice of it other than the fact that he wore some. She had only caught a small hint of it when he'd stood behind her in his office. Now that she was absolutely surrounded in his coat, it wafted around her. She couldn't help but slip her nose behind the buttoned-up collar and inhale deeply. It was a rich, herby-type of cologne. It tickled the inside of her nose every time she breathed, but it wasn't enough to cause her to sneeze. She couldn't put a name to it. Didn't mean she didn't like it though.

The silence wasn't exactly awkward, but she still felt compelled to speak. "Not gonna rape me, right? No sleeping with the dead and toxically poisoned fishies in the river, right?"

"You're an idiot." He glanced at her sidelong. She glowered at him—but the smirk was on his face.

Butterflies flittered in her stomach.

_Oh lord, there is _no way_ he's going to make me go all girly-girl. I refuse. Absolutely not._

Then he walked passed her slowly and paused at the street corner, leaning up against the lamp post. He glanced away and watched the cars speed by them. His mismatched eyes waited for the little sign across the street to change to the Person-Walking picture so that they could cross. In the mean time, he smirked more openly at her. She liked it from the front a lot better than from the side. She also liked it a lot more when he was only standing two feet from her and not four yards across the quad.

_Shit. Abort, Sakura, abort!_

"You're a jackass."

Kakashi shook his head. "No, I'm an asshole. There's a difference."

Sakura blinked at him. "That was uncalled for. Didn't your moth—" She stopped and corrected herself, feeling bad yet again. "Haven't you ever heard you don't swear in front of a lady? Besides, do you like trying to provoke me? Does it feel good?"

"Lord, be quiet." He smirked again as the light switched and the cars came to a stop beside them. He reached his hand out and tugged on the end of the sleeve—her hand didn't fit all the way down. "I don't really like coffee that much. I'm taking you out to dinner instead. For some reason, espresso plus you equates to a rather annoying situation in my mind. I'd rather you _not_ keep me up all night while waiting for your aunt to get back."

She blinked up at him, finding herself being led by his light touch like a child. "Eat?"

He pointed towards the restaurant a little way up the street. It was some little Italian bistro, with a name she couldn't pronounce because she couldn't roll her r's. "You don't drink alcohol much, do you?"

Hesitantly, she shook her head. The walk was short. With him leading her, she seemed to walk faster—attempting to equalize her steps with his long, loping ones. He led her up the walkway of the restaurant.

"Exactly. We don't need Tsunade-san coming back and seeing you passed out on my couch. She'll think I tried to get you drunk and seduce you or something." He smirked and she felt her stomach leap queasily. "That bother you?"

"Am I underdressed?" She glanced down the opening of the coat. She was wearing her nice jeans; the ones that made her butt look small and firm. She was wearing a powder blue sweater that she'd borrowed from Ino. It didn't look as good on her because she didn't have Ino's eyes to accentuate it with. Her pink hair sort of clashed with the pastel coloration.

Kakashi shook his head and held the door open, allowing her to walk past him. "Of course not," he said quietly. "I'm not even wearing a coat. Nobody cares. It's also almost ten o'clock at night." He glanced down at her apprehensive face and sighed, shaking his head again. "Want me to request the dark, shadowy back corner so that no one can see you?"

Sakura chuckled. "Please?"

They stopped in front of the hostess' desk. The woman was tall, blonde, and busty; the way she glanced at Kakashi reminded her of how Ino was throwing kisses to Genma earlier. "Can I be of any help to you, sir?" Kakashi didn't seem to notice when she smiled predatorily. For some reason, it ruffled Sakura's feathers.

"Table for two," he said, ignoring how the young woman next to him bristled. "Preferably some place more private." He offered her his smile this time.

The woman faltered and nodded, glancing down at Sakura suspiciously before she nodded. "Right the way."

Sakura felt slightly better after that. She felt incredibly better when Kakashi pressed his hand flat against the small of her back and pushed her along beside him. Their table was one of the large booths in the back of the non-smoking section. The only other people in the room were a couple of teenagers in the front of the building by the window and three men who seemed slightly inebriated.

"Can I get you anything to drink?"

Kakashi glanced at her as she removed his coat and sat down, sliding to the very back corner of the booth. "Hot tea, please."

The silver-haired man glanced back at the woman. "Water."

The waitress nodded and walked away.

The situation suddenly grew golden for Sakura when Kakashi sat down and slid back to sit next to her. He raised an eyebrow and smirked—her stomach jumped. "See? Private."

* * *

TBC . . . **  
**

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**  
**

Took a while. But I liked it.

People are going to think them going to the restaurant is like _Twilight_. -sigh- Oh well. It does slightly resemble it, but after sitting there, I really didn't feel like writing a coffee shot scene. Plus, I'm hungry. I want to describe food. xD

The hot tea for Nami. She always gets it whenever we go out.

Thanks, Hiko


	5. Part Five

**Title:** The Way You Smile Shines the Heavens**  
Fandom/Community:** Naruto / **50scenes  
Prompt:** Table 2: #44 — Christmas**  
Pairing:** Hatake Kakashi x Haruno Sakura**  
Rating:** R**  
Warning:** Language, sexuality, alcohol and brief drug use**  
Disclaimer:** Kishimoto-sensei owns. Small quote dedication to the movies _Cruel Intentions_ and _Hercules_.**  
Summary:** He'd planned on spending his holiday as his normally did—with a nice bottle of Jack to wash down the bitterness. She'd planned on dealing with her dysfunctional parents as she always had—excusing herself to her room and turning her CD player up to max volume. Funnily enough, they weren't too upset to find some reason to abandon their traditions. AU.

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**Part Five.**

"Are the two of you ready to order yet? Or would you like a little more time?" Standing with all her weight on her right leg, the waitress' hips were popped far to the left, just a little below Kakashi's eye level. She fluttered her lashes, speaking only to Kakashi and ignoring Sakura completely—though the man paid little attention, instead gazing boredly at his menu.

Kakashi, though, cocked his head slightly to the side, peering at his dinner partner from under his silver fringe. Sakura shook her head infinitesimally and the man nodded. "How about we start with an order of breadsticks first?"

The waitress nodded. "Yes, of course, sir." She smirked, leaning forward slightly to brush the tips of her manicured fingers against Kakashi's hand. "I'll be _right_ back with that."

Kakashi said nothing in reply, sipping at his drink; he glanced at the young woman beside him again out of the corner of his eyes.

"You seem tense."

Sakura didn't seem to hear him at first. He waited for a few minutes before opening his mouth to repeat his question—maybe she hadn't heard him over the _volume twelve_ radio music—but suddenly she looked up at him over the rim of her menu. "Huh? Did you say something?"

For the first time, Kakashi wondered if this was how it felt to be his—self-appointed—best friend, Maito Gai: completely and utterly ignored by the one person he wanted attention from. Not that he'd ever admit he wanted her attention. He was a man's man and all that. He'd never lower himself into confessing he secretly wanted the young woman next to him to pay more attention to _him_ and not her _menu_.

"Never mind then." She didn't seem tense at all now. He grumbled under his breath. The man almost wanted to bite his tongue.

"No, really, what?" she asked again, her upper body turning slightly in the booth to face him. She seemed genuinely curious about what he had said. "I was so engrossed in the menu, I wasn't paying any attention." She paused for a minute to reflect on her statement, her face flushing blotchily; her hand lifted and covered her nose. "Crap, that's probably not the best thing to admit."

Kakakshi chuckled. "No, it's fine; I have to do that at least twice to Tsunade-san a day."

Her brow furrowed. "Well that's not very nice."

"Did I ever say that I was a nice man?" An eyebrow lifted in a way that she realized he did when he was doing a possibility of three things: one, he was confused; two, he was trying to be funny; or three, he was mocking. For a minute, she almost thought he was mocking her—then she realized he was merely trying to be funny.

"You're taking me out to eat," she said with a smile, her nose back in her menu again. She glanced almost shyly up at him through the veil of hair in front of her face. "Me—who you don't even know. That's gotta count for something, right?"

"Unless I was secretly planning on raping and murdering you, then dumping your body in the river."

He had expected her to laugh at their little joke, something they'd been doing all night. Instead, Sakura turned her head slowly, staring at him with rapt attention—rapt _serious_ attention. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed thickly, which he was certain was almost audible.

Kakashi found himself nearly wanting to squirm underneath her intense gaze. He'd faced both women and men that had wanted to bag him—the way Sakura stared at him made him feel like she had him under a microscope. He'd stared at her seriously before, back in his office, but she'd been over three feet away at the time. Now, with less than a foot between their faces, he could see the flecks of lime inside her emerald gaze. She seemed far closer than he'd realized. And in spite of the fact that she was sort of glaring at him, she truly was beautiful. (Her being clad in his too-large jacket had, he insisted to himself, _nothing_ to do with it.)

"You're mean," she said anticlimactically after a few more seconds, a tiny smirk creeping onto her face at the corner of her lips as she turned back to her menu.

Kakashi laughed softly to himself, downing the rest of his water. "And here I thought you liked all the flattery. It was all you were talking about earlier." He smirked lazily, cupping his hands gently behind his head and leaning back against the booth. "Besides, you enjoying yourself is my _job_, remember? I'm getting a bonus for this. I have to be nice."

She scoffed. "You're such a jackass." The menu hit him in the face.

"_Asshole_," he reminded, chuckling again. "Not jackass. We discussed this once. But anyway, but it's what makes me _me_, you know?"

Smirking slightly, Sakura buried her nose into the menu again, taking a moment to sip lightly at her steaming tea. After at least three full minutes, she turned back to him and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, were you still talking?"

Kakashi frowned. "You are a cruel, cruel human being."

Sakura laughed, setting the menu down. "You're an attention hog, you know that?" she snickered, shifting inside his coat. "I don't know if I've met a man who needs more attention than—oh wait, my best friend was shoving her tongue down that Genma's throat, huh? He _might_ need more attention than you do."

"I feel insulted." Kakashi, ever the actor, glanced away like a cowed pet. "I kidnap you from a party where quite a few of the men wanted to get you drunk and ravage you. I lend you my coat, take you out to dinner. I'm even _nice_. This is what I get?" He gazed wistfully at his empty cup, wishing momentarily that he had ordered some form of hard, bitter liquor. "And I do not need attention," he said, only as an afterthought—though will real meaning.

"Oh, yes you do."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "I most certainly do _not_. I have lived with myself for thirty-six years, thank you very much. I am quite certain of my own habits by now."

The young woman's green eyes glittered, pointing at his face. "Oh, yes you do!" She bit her lip, smirking as she swiveled slightly in the booth. "As soon as you noticed that I was ignoring you, you started fiddling with the straw wrapper, _and_ you were muttering to yourself. You're like a little boy." She laughed harder and poked the thin, horizontal scar under his left eye. "Your red eye even twitches! How did you get this thing, anyway? I didn't know red was a normal pigment."

The light touch caused him to flinch. "It's not," he muttered, pushing her hand way from his face as he turned away. At her pouting face, he added, "It's a long story. And it's not a very good one."

"Because my story is any better?"

She poked at his arm and he gave her a look. "What are you, twelve?"

Sakura shook her head, chuckling as she refolded her menu into the proper proportions and sides, smirking at him out of the corner of her eyes. "No, I'm a sixteen-year old genius. Didn't you get the memo?"

"Tenten said something like that earlier," murmured Kakashi, picking up her menu and setting it aside with his own. "Does it actually mean anything, or am I missing the joke?"

"You'd have to be a twenty-some young woman."

Kakashi sighed, rolling his eyes slightly. "Guess I'm never going to get it."

"Nope," agreed Sakura gleefully.

**

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**

Tsunade groaned, dropping onto the couch in the lounge with as much remaining dignity as she could muster. She placed her forefinger against her chin, pushing her head to the side. Her neck cracked a few times, and she groaned appreciatively. "I think I'm going to kill myself," she complained as she repeated the process in the opposite direction.

Returning from the water cooler at the other end of the room, Jiraiya handed her a paper cup before taking the seat next to her far less gracefully than the woman had. He smirked over his own cup, amused as Tsunade repeatedly drew her fingers frustratingly through her hair. She glared at him through the blonde fringe. "It's not too bad," he reflected, waving his hand around in the air. He stopped when his wrist gave a satisfying pop. "It's not like we really have to pay attention. I propped a book up behind the folder and Takanawa-dono doesn't seem to have noticed yet."

"Asshole!" Tsunade lashed out, and he laughed, leaning to one side in his seat in an attempt to avoid the thump she was sending to her shoulder. "And here I've thought you've been in the same boat as me! But _no_, you've got your _porn_ hidden behind your folder!"

"You want some?" he joked.

Tsunade growled. "I do not read porn!"

"It's not all that bad."

"Says the _author_," she snapped acidly. "Your opinion doesn't quite matter much in this situation." Groaning, she jerked her head, flicking hair out of her face as she crossed her arms. Glaring in no particular direction, she sighed. "I hope Sakura's night is turning out better than mine is. I was hoping to take her home and actually enjoy a regular Christmas Eve. Poor girl hasn't had a real Christmas in years."

Jiraiya sipped slowly, his expression souring. "Whatever happened?"

"What?" Tsunade asked, watching from the corner of her eyes. "Between Nobu and Yuuka?"

He shrugged. "Between the two of them. Between Sakura and her mother. Between you and your sister."

"My sister and I are easy." Tsunade lifted the paper glass to her lips, swallowing rapidly. She smacked her lips and sighed again. "I am blonde and pale, she is a brunette and tan, I am loud and bitchy, and she is quiet and 'demure'." She mimed the quotations. "We couldn't stand each other as newborns. It's common sense that it was only going to intensify as we grew. Now Yuuka and her husband; they require a more complicated explanation. Their union was anything but loving—it was completely my father attempting to merge companies with Nobu's. Both of them have had their affairs from the beginning.

"Which is probably where we get to the most complicated portion. . . Nobu was always discrete about his affairs. Yuuka makes her dalliances obvious, often flirting right in front of him. Sakura walked in on her with her latest toy, one of Nobu's business partners, Hinegeshi Rizu."

The white-haired man snorted, shaking his head. "What a miserable family you have, Tsunade. Now I know why you never go home. You have a better life _away_ from them."

Tsunade nodded. "Which is why I wanted Sakura out of that situation. It's only hurting her."

"Kakashi will keep her busy," said Jiraiya, smirking as he sipped his water slowly. "He's good at entertaining."

The woman narrowed her eyes. "You're worrying me now."

**

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**

The waitress sidled back over, a platter of breadsticks with two different types of dip alongside it. She smiled slightly, setting it down and bending over a little further than she needed to. Her biceps pressed against her chest, plumping up her cleavage. Kakashi—though he wasn't taking his chances to glance up—had a perfect shot at seeing straight down her uniformed blouse. Next to him, Sakura stifled a laugh at the woman's blatant attempts at flirtation. "Here you are, one order of breadsticks," she murmured, taking out her pad and flipping it open. "Would you like to order now? Or shall I give you a few more minutes?" She fluttered her lashes again.

Before Kakashi could open his mouth, Sakura smiled sweetly up at the older woman unabashedly. "I'm ready," she replied cheerily, "how about you honey?"

Kakashi wasn't too surprised that Sakura was getting annoyed with the woman's forwardness. Nor was he surprised that the confidant young woman had decided to take matters into her own hands. He was surprised, however, that the young woman leaned over, lifted her hand and sifted her fingers gently through his hair. When she finally managed to brush the fringe from his eyes, her smile widened slightly, and she rested her palm against the curve at the back of his neck, her fingernails scraping lightly.

Goose bumps erupted where their skin met, however lightly. The man repressed a shudder, unable to stop the shiver that involuntarily slithered down his spine at the woman's touch. Something more surprising was the way that her fingertips seemed to ignite his skin and make the room about ten degrees hotter than it was previously.

He wasn't about to allow this chance to pass by without reaction. The waitress was attractive, and maybe on another day, Kakashi might have strutted and flirted with her, asked her to dinner—maybe even bedded her. But her advances were annoying and trashy at best, and with his objective of entertaining Sakura, he was in no mood for distraction. He'd take whatever chance he could get to gain the young woman's attention. He refused to admit to himself that he truly _wanted_ to know, first-hand from the young woman, why she was here over Christmas and not with her family. He wasn't sure if he was just becoming curious or, god forbid, he was starting to look for assurance that he wasn't the only one with family problems.

Glancing to the side, he leaned forward and brushed his lips against the upturned part of her forearm, allowing his voice to drop an octave as he met her eyes and replied, "Sure, I'm ready, babe."

He was certain the pink-haired girl deserved some praise when her eyes widened only fractionally in response.

The waitress fidgeted in place, transferring her weight to her other foot and leaning away from Kakashi. She coughed slightly, obviously rather embarrassed that she'd just openly flirted with someone who was so _obviously_ already attached.

"I'd like the Chicken Caesar salad, please," said Sakura eventually, her voice pure honey, when she managed to tear her eyes away from Kakashi's, giving herself a little shake—as though she'd just emerged from under water. "Honey, you?"

Kakashi's smile widened and he picked the menus up to hold out to their waitress. "Ravioli di Portobello."

The waitress nodded curtly, taking the menus and holding them under her arm as she made a final notation. "I'll bring them out as soon as possible."

As the woman was about to turn away, Sakura asked, "Wait! Can I add a Strawberry Martini to that order?"

Kakashi glanced sharply at her, but the young woman kept her smile in place.

"I'll have to see your license." The waitress crossed her arms, glancing amusedly between the two of them. Sakura smiled and unbuttoned Kakashi's coat, sliding her hand into her pocket. She pulled out her ID card, waving it in the air for the waitress to take. The older woman took it grudgingly, flicked her eyes down, and returned it swiftly, without really looking at it, as though it burned her hand. "Yes, that's fine. I'll bring it right out."

Only when the waitress was out of earshot did Kakashi turn quickly, brushing the tips of his finger on his free hand against her chin. He smirked when Sakura flushed and pulled away, her hand sliding from his neck in tandem. She folded her arms underneath her breasts and leaned back into the cushioned seat. "So, baby, you play girlfriend often, or were you just looking to try out the idea?" His smile widened when she glanced away, rubbing at the tip of her nose. "No need to be embarrassed, I know I'm good-looking. Any girl would be happy to play five minute girlfriend with me."

The young woman raised an eyebrow sharply. "She was just getting _annoying_," she hissed, uncrossing her arms to fold his coat back into place around her, then recrossing her arms. "She was staring at you like you were a piece of meat and pretended I wasn't even here. I don't like being ignored."

He chuckled. "You seemed good at it though. You ever think about acting as a career?"

"Only when I was twelve and I had to bypass explaining that my parents were too wasted to come to parent-teacher conferences." She made a sour face and lifted her mug to sip at her tea. "I like the idea of saving lives better than pretending to be living someone else's."

"Touché." The hostility in her voice astounded him. She'd spoken harshly before, but the tinge of bitterness intrigued him. "I thought I was taking you to eat so you _wouldn't_ be smashed? If Tsunade-san catches you—"

"I'm twenty-two, Hatake-san," teased Sakura, batting her eyelashes mockingly. The return of her flirtatious behavior seemed fake to him. The irritation had smoothed over far too easier to be unpracticed. "I can buy my own alcohol—I doubt my aunt will be too upset. Besides, what do you think we did when I came to visit in previous years? Talked and painted our toenails and gossiped about the new hot guy on our favorite TV show?" Sakura snorted. "Oba-han _taught_ me how to hold my liquor."

"Really?"

She chuckled at his skeptic tone. "We'll have to have a contest one day. You'll hit the floor."

Kakashi chuckled. "Oh, I see, because you're that good at drinking." He sipped his water lightly, watching her from the corner of his eye. "I don't play kid games. Stuff like Beer Pong or I Never isn't exactly my style. My types of games shy more towards the line of seeing who can walk a straight line after six rounds of straight tequila shots."

When he heard the click of heels, his hand met the cool surface of the booth seat and slid behind Sakura's head, his hand landing on her shoulder to bring her closer. "I hope you like acting," his muttered under his breath.

The young woman's mouth opened to protest, but she spotted the waitress carrying her icy-pink drink and leaned into his side instead. She inclined her head, pressing her hand onto his chest and giggled softly; her lips grazed his ear as she whispered, "I _did_ forget how fun it is to act, though."

"Enjoy your drink, miss." The waitress set it down, allowing it to make a loud clinking noise as the bottom rim bumped Kakashi's water glass.

Kakashi smirked and glanced up. "I'm sure she will. Thank you."

Sakura turned her head slightly to the side, maintaining the same distance away from the man; and causing her hair to brush up against his neck softly. "Yes, thank you."

"If you need anything _stronger_," the woman continued in a sultry voice, her eyes piercingly returning to Sakura's bubble-gum pink head as the young woman snapped her green eyes to the older woman's form. "Don't _hesitate_ to—"

Sakura smiled wicked. "Don't worry, if we need you, we will. Thanks." The waitress grimaced, raising one of her eyebrows slightly before turning on her heal and walking away. Sakura cocked her head to the side, clicking her teeth quietly. "I think she just challenged me."

Kakashi chuckled. "Ah, leave her be." He waved his hand before allowing it to lie heavily once again on her shoulder. "Now, I do believe as you newest boyfriend, I deserve to know why you're here and not with your family."

"I am with family. Oba-han just happens to be a little busy at the moment." She leaned forward, shoulders sliding out from underneath Kakashi's arm as she picked up her martini. She closed her eyes as she took a deep gulp, enjoying the pleasant burn as the chilled alcohol slid down her throat. She set the drink back down on the table, leaning on her cheek on her fist, pointedly ignoring him.

"Remind me never to take you out again," the man grumbled, crossing his arms across his chest as he leaned back in the seat. "I got jilted. You promised to talk, but as soon as the party was done and you got food. . . closed goes the mouth."

Sakura's mouthed opened slightly and she wetted her lips, eyes focused pointedly on a speck of pepper on the table between their silverware. Kakashi watched her intently, waiting for anything she might give him. When she sighed he knew he'd won.

"It's just stupid," she whispered, breathing deeply. She turned around, her ton quiet and serious as she met his mismatched eyes. The look in her green eyes sobered him. The way her friend—Ino, if he recalled correctly—had described her family hadn't been all that horrible. But the way that Sakura looked at him made him reconsider just how deep-seated the woman's urge to get away was.

"My parent's didn't have a marriage, they had a business merger. There was no love, no affection, no common ground between them. They joined together in glorious, _holy_ matrimony for the money and power it would bring to them. They would have an incredibly strong joint company and neither of them now had to worry about trying to please anyone." Sakura took a breath as she turned to glare so fiercely at the table in front of them, Kakashi wouldn't have been shocked if it suddenly burst into flames. "They chose to bring a child, god only knows how they consummated a marriage—neither of them ever cared for the other, into their fucked up world of partying and business transactions. Where you couldn't trust anyone and while you pretended to befriend someone, you were buying the very clothes off their backs when they were turned for even a second."

"They are horrible, vicious and cruel people. And I'm their daughter." She closed her eyes, giving her head a single shake before she laid her chin on her folded arms. "They've had affairs my entire life. My father would go out with women I hadn't ever met before, bedecked them in my mother's jewelry and bought them fancy things. But at least he did it in secret. My mother. . . She'd bring home my father's friends, my friend's _dads_. Everything was a show for her. A game. If my father wasn't screaming at her, she was losing. I don't understand why, but it's just how she's always been.

"A week ago, my mother applied for divorce. She's done it at least twice before, but my father was always able to talk her out of it. The company would split if the two of them cut the knot." The young woman rolled her eyes, scoffing quietly. "This time, my mother's serious. She started dating the vice president of their company, one of my father's closest friends. He'll hate her as soon as he finds out. It'll go through."

Sakura turned to him and gave a bitter smile. "So now you know, Hatake-san. I'm here because I'm running away from my broken family. Because Oba-han has been more of a mother to me than my own mother. All I know is that I'm desperate to make sure I don't end up as bitter and miserable as they are."

"You're not your parents." The man hesitated for a moment, drawing his hand through his silver, before finally laying his hand on her back at the base of her neck. "I can't assure you happiness, but I can say through experience that as long as you try. . . You don't have to be your parents."

Sakura could feel her stomach churning nervously as her head turned to the side to peer inquisitively at him. His fingers made her warm in unusual ways. It wasn't a bad feeling, just strange and unfamiliar. "Really, Hatake-san?" she asked softly, raising a pale eyebrow. "And what would _you_ know about bad parents? Is that why you're here? To exchange stories over dinner about how screwed up our childhoods were so you can feel better about yourself and how you're not alone?"

Kakashi met her gaze steadily. "I don't know why you're here, Sakura, but I'm here because I want to be."

The waitress broke their stare and Kakashi turned to glance at her. The serious look on his face kept her from making anymore advances or discretions. She merely placed their food down on the table, watching them with pursed lips. "If you folks need anything, don't be afraid to ask," she murmured before walking away. When she was across the room, she glanced back at them before turning to go into the employee back room.

"Now you're being unusually chivalrous, Hatake-san."

The man smirked and rubbed his thumb against the skin exposed above her shirt. She shivered. "I thought I told you to call me 'Kakashi'?" he said softly, taking his fork and spearing a ravioli. "Now, _baby_, why don't you try this? Because I know from personal experience this tastes almost as good as I am in bed."

A peal of laughter escaped Sakura as she sat up, brushing her hair from her face. "You just compared sex with you to Italian pasta."

"Yes. That's why I said it was _almost_ as good." He waved his fork before her mouth. "Now open wide."

* * *

Grammar nazis, don't bother trying to tell me about my grammar errors. Be happy I FINALLY got this thing posted. This story _will_ be finished before the end of this year. Some people caught on the idea that I was only writing it around Christmas. So now that we had our first snowfall in my town, I started writing it. And I'm finishing it this year.

Wow. My life was pretty screwed up this summer. But I doubt any of you want to hear about it.

I _am_ working on _Picture Trends_ as well. I hope to have a chapter out by Thanksgiving, or at least the weekend after.

But really, guys. Did you miss me? =]

**- Hiko Mokushi**


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